Going from 5th to (likely) 2nd is certainly a significant improvement, and we'll see if we can continue building on what we have. However, it's extremely difficult to accept knowing that we had a big (albeit unforeseen) opportunity to win the league, yet we appear to have crumbled in recent weeks.
I know this gets said every year, so I could easily be wrong, but you do get the feeling that more teams are going to be improving this Summer. Newcastle and City are oil clubs so will have their pick of the bunch, with United also looking strong under ten Hag. Meanwhile, I don't envisage Liverpool or Chelsea being as bad as this season. With Spurs, it's difficult to tell, but it all depends on your managerial appointment and whether that manager has a clear identity that will be supported by the recruitment team in the Summer. As bad as things seem right now, I wouldn't entirely rule you out of the CL race for next season.
I guess the point I'm getting at is that it feels like a wasted opportunity. I'm not sure when we'll be in this position again. So it sucks to be throwing it all away.
I felt the same way after our 15/16 and 16/17 seasons. United were a mess, City were still hitting their stride under Pep and Liverpool were just starting to build under Klopp. I worried then and still worry now that we'd never get a better opportunity with so many factors aligning so favourably for us.
And I get the same feeling now, albeit this time about the top 4, forget major trophies. There is a chance Chelsea will still be a mess next season as the owner resembles a child playing a computer game, but no way will Liverpool be this bad and as you've said - others will spend untold billions to make everyone else irrelevant. Then you have the likes of Brighton and Villa who I think will only kick on next season (the former in particular have such a strong scouting network they are utterly immune to being regularly strip-mined by bigger clubs).
Honestly next season is such an unknown, I can see us finishing anywhere from 4th to 10th. And if Kane leaves, it will be a blessing if we finish as high as 10th.
